Secrets
by Hart Matters
Summary: A look into what Riley, Lucas, and Maya may have been feeling during the campfire scene in Girl Meets Texas Part 2. CONTAINS SPOILERS.


**If you haven't already watched GMTexas Part 2 as of October 16th, this will contain MAJOR spoilers!**

* * *

"Maya likes you—"

"Riley!"

"—She's been hiding it all this time," Lucas slowly turns his head toward Maya, as if to ask her if this was true, "It's why she couldn't watch you at the rodeo."

All heads snapped back at Riley.

"What are you doing?!" Maya was begging Riley to stop. Her voice shook with plea. She couldn't understand why Riley was doing any of this.

Riley stood up from her seat on a log, her brown eyes trained on Maya and Lucas sitting side by side. "I saw you Maya. I saw how much you cared." Lucas continued to stare at Riley, confusion riddled on his face. Maya turned to look at the fire and closed her eyes, as if doing so would mean that everyone would disappear and this wouldn't actually be happening. Her shoulders relaxed and she started counting in her head, 'One… Two… Three. This isn't happening. This. Is. Not. Happening.' No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling of her best friend looking right at her, as if daring her to speak on her feelings.

"It's why she makes fun of you.. I think." Lucas stood up as Riley finished her last statement, square shoulders showing he demanded an answer. "Riley, what are we?" He looked straight at her and holds her gaze, Riley didn't dare blink. She opened her lips to say something, but whatever it is didn't come out right away. She stuttered, "I—I told you what we are." Tears were brimming her eyes but she refused to blink in case the tears would freely fall if she did. Her jaw clenched as she spoke, doing her best to keep up this charade of familial feelings between her and Lucas.

The tall dirty blonde boy shook his head. "Well, what if that's not what I think we are?"

Behind him, Maya had opened her eyes, hopeful for what he would say. What he did say wasn't the answer she was hoping for. Though it wasn't the one she had looked for, it was the one that she expected, and maybe that's why it hurt the most. While she knew he was going to question Riley's feelings, she had this stupid little hope inside of her that maybe he could have felt the same way about her.

Riley swallowed the lump in her throat that had started to form. She took a half a step back and the small confidence she feigned before wavered again, "Well then," she paused to let out a small sigh, "You better start thinking of us like that." Her voice was so small it was hard to hear her over the crickets in the background. She excused herself, clasping her hands together and walking around Lucas. If she stayed any longer, she wouldn't be able to keep this whole act up. She was almost homefree when Lucas turned around to stop her.

"Riley, I—"

"Lucas," Riley turned back around, she needed to leave so that Maya could sort out whatever she felt for Lucas. "We will always be there for each other." Maya was her best friend and she was too busy talking and thinking about her crush on Lucas that she didn't realize Maya had one as well. She owed it to her. Riley turned her head to look down at the small blonde girl, still sitting on her place on a log. "You stepped back," Maya slowly looked up the brunette, afraid of possibly what could come from all of this. Riley have her a small smile, as if encouraging her, "I know you stepped back." Riley gave one final look to Lucas, then turned around to leave the campfire sight, Farkle following right behind her.

It was only Lucas and Maya at the fire now,—Zay had left awhile ago with Vanessa—and Maya couldn't possibly feel more alone. Her blue eyes stared at Riley's retreating form. She trained to stay quiet, thinking that if she didn't do anything, nothing would happen. Everything would stay the same and the whole dynamic between all of their friend would remain the way it was.

"What's going on?" Lucas interrupted her train of thoughts, asking his question with his arms in the air. The poor boy both looked and sounded so confused.

Maya gave a shrug, one of many that night, throwing her hands in the air in a similar fashion, "I don't know." Maya regretted speaking immediately. That 'I don't know' couldn't even convince herself. Apparently, it did work well enough to convince Lucas.

Lucas moved closer to Maya, enough to sit on the edge of the same log. As he sat, he took of his cowboy hat, trying to wrap his head around everything that just unfolded in front of him. "I'm her brother now?" His face was contorted to show much confusion, brown knit together.

"Apparently," Maya nodded, feigning innocence as she acted as if she had not scene the sibling comparison coming.

There was a long pregnant pause between the two, nothing was said. While Maya enjoyed the silence because it meant they wouldn't talk about the subject or any subjects relating to the matter at hand, it also made her anxious. Lucas placed his hat on the rock beside him before turning to look at Maya with a peculiar expression on his face. It was a mix between confusion and bewilderment, "You like me?"

'Quick Maya,' she told herself, 'Let's go back to how it used to be, before any of this became complicated.' The blonde girl stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him because she knew that if and when she did, everything would come out. She squinted her eyes, hoping to give off the impression that she thought that her liking Lucas was absolutely crazy. "Pft, no."

He shifted beside her, his body more turned towards her now as if begging for these answers. "Maya, why didn't you want me to ride in the rodeo?" He crossed his arms and stared directing at her, expecting her to say something back. Maya stared off into the distance as she opened her mouth. She wasn't acting quick enough, she needed to think of an excuse and fast. She turned to face him now, putting her best game face on. "Because," she started, talking as if it were obvious, "I didn't want you to win and get all conceited." The more she looked at him, the more she felt herself slipping away. She had to look back at the fire.

"I don't think that's it."

'Crap, saw right through you, Hart. Alright, defensive action.' Maya kept her eyes on the fire still. She knew this was a really bad retort and answer, but she had to deny everything. If she gave it, nothing would be the same. Nothing between Lucas and herself, nothing between Riley and herself. "I don't think that's it," she mocked him, dripping in an over-exaggerated southern accent.

"I don't talk like that, I just don't!" Lucas seemed frustrated. He threw his hands up in the air again, dying to know Maya's true answer. "Why do you seem me like that?"

Maya shook her head and looked straight at Lucas. She put a smile on her face if only to mask the shock in her to find out that Lucas actually believed she thought of him that way. "Of course I don't see you like that!" Maya stood up and walked over to the log farthest away from him. The more distance the better, she told herself. "Can we just look at this fire, _please_."

"Yes," Lucas forfeited. He wasn't going to get an answer from her soon if she kept avoiding the question. Maya sat down with her knees pointed together, the distance between Lucas and herself unbearable to the native texan. He looked at Maya, watching her as she watched the fire. He wondered how long he could stay just looking at her before she noticed. Apparently, not that long as she looked at him, first form the side of her eyes then turning her head slightly. "Stop," she raised her hand in the air as if she wanted to say, 'What are you doing?' He raised his brows and apology and looked straight at the fire on the ground for a total of two seconds before looking back at the blonde beauty. She noticed him again and gestured to the fire. Another brow raise in apology and another two second glance at the fire before he looked back at Maya. This time, however, Maya was still staring at him as if expecting him to look back at her.

"Can we just stop," Maya begged, sitting up straight as she looked at him with imploring eyes. "I just want everything to stop, it's been _bad_ enough I've been keeping this secret from Riley all this time!" She smacked both her palms against her lap for emphasis. Her voice was shaky, it was getting harder and harder to avoid it at this point.

"What secret?"

Maya held her breath for a moment, she needed to explain herself. He wasn't going to let up. She looked at her lap, pursed her lips, and let out a breath, trying to find a place to start. "You guys are so much alike," She looked over at Lucas, then at the fire again, "I thought you were just like brother and sister, too." "Why?" He asked. The girl hesitated a moment and stared up at the stars visible above head, if only to find the right word to say. "You're at your best when you're just talking to each other," Lucas looked into the fire, this time his eyes stayed there as he contemplated Maya's words, "looking out for each other. What's what I believed, but I kept it a secret." Maya paused to take a breath. She stole a glance at Lucas to gauge his reaction. "And now the secret's out so I don't have to carry it around with me anymore." She looked solemnly at the fire again, it's embers flaring up into the sky casting an orange red glow to everything its light touched. "I just don't want to have any more secrets from her. "

Lucas gave it a moment, still contemplating Maya's well thought out speech. One thing still plagued him. Riley had said that Maya liked him, right? He stood up on his feet and looked over at Maya's small frame, still sitting a couple ways away from him. "So… you don't make fun of me because you like me?"

Maya shook her head. She just confessed one thing, she didn't want to confess another. "Im just gonna watch this fire." She refused to look at Lucas, but that boy was stubborn and he was still demanding answers from her. He took a couple steps towards her. "Maya, why do you make fun of me?"

Maya shook her head again in frustration. He just wouldn't stop. She stood up with a slight stomp of her feet and twisted her body to walk towards him. "Because you're easy to make fun of—"

"Okay, then stop." Did Lucas honestly think it was that easy? To just stop?

"—Because you're a Huckleberry," Maya swung her hand in his direction, as if to showcase the way he was, "You're a Ranger Rick!—"

"Would you stop?" Lucas raised his voice.

"—Look, if you think I had feelings for you, don't you think I would just come out and say it?" She was speaking quickly, all in one go. Lucas knew she was getting riled up. Her voice had raised to and she was continuously taking steps towards him like she wanted to prove a point.

"Well, I don't! So what I do say is Ha-Huur—"

Maya gasped, the breath caught in her throat. She froze where she stood, literal inches away from Lucas. He had grabbed her face in his large hands, fingers tangled within her blonde wavy mane. Her brows raised up in utter shock and she couldn't look away. She was afraid that if she moved in the slightest, the moment would be taken away, that all of this was a dream and she'd wake up from it because as much as she was trying to avoid this to save everyone's friendship, she had suppressed this feelings inside of her for so long she only thought this would ever happen in her dreams. Maya felt guilty because she knew she wanted this.

Lucas stared into Maya's eyes just as she stared at his. He could make out almost every detail of her delicate face even with the dim lighting of the fire. He kept hem in that position for longer than necessary. Everything around them had disappeared. The only indication of where they were was the sound of the crickets in the back, the sound of the crackling fire and the logs shifting under it's burn, the rustling of leaves when a small breeze picked up.

He didn't know when, but as Lucas snapped back into it, his eyes were focused on Maya's lips and he felt himself leaning in. He stopped himself when he felt a familiar feeling that started in his chest and slowly spread over his whole body. He was scared. Like Maya, he was afraid because if he closed the centimeter gap between them he didn't know what would come next. He pulled away, letting the fear of the unknown take control of him. He took his hands away from her and looked down at the dirt beneath his feet, ashamed of how cowardice he was acting. His eyes slowly trailed upwards to see Maya's face, a little stinging in his heart to see the hurt expression.

'Yeah, that's what I thought,' Maya told herself. She closed her eyes and braced herself. When she opened them back up, she looked at Lucas with such a soft and delicate expression. All of Maya's walls were down. She was vulnerable. "Why did you do that?"

Lucas panicked, "I don't know! I just.. wanted you to stop!" Maya's brows raised in disbelief. "Please don't tell my sister." Maya looked down in frustration before glaring at Lucas for his actions. "You couldn't think of another way to stop me?" Lucas' eyes moved to the side. Now it was his term to avoid the real answers he had for Maya. "Not at the time, no. I'm sorry."

To Maya, his apology seemed to come out as more of a question. To Maya, it seemed that Lucas only said it because he felt like she should, like it was the right thing to do, but not because he meant it. Regardless, she couldn't run anymore. "You don't have to be sorry, Huckleberry. Of course I like you." When Lucas didn't say anything and just stared at her, she went on, "You're a good guy." Tears started to pool up at the corners of her eyes and Maya did everything she could to deny them access of falling onto her blush stained cheeks. She was already a mess as is, she didn't need the waterworks, too. She moved back to her seat on the log. "If you got hurt, I don't know what I would have done." Maya stared out into nothing past the campfire, refusing to think of Lucas in a hospital, injured.

Lucas remained quiet as he sat next to her. Maya looked up at him, a lopsided smile playing on her peach painted lips. "I don't want to have any more secrets from her," she was saying this again because it was important to her. The dynamic of their friendship—between all of them— was important to her. It was also important to Lucas. He stared at her for a moment, like he was trying to search her eyes for something. He tore his gaze away and it was now Maya observing Lucas before she looked away.

Lucas looked into the fire as he, too, contemplated the secrets he could be keeping from Riley and from Maya.


End file.
